Founder Royce Flournoy has earned a reputation for quality construction and customer service throughout Austin, Texas.

WITH ROYCE FLOURNOY’S family history in the residential building industry in Austin, Texas, it is almost as if he was destined to lead a company to elite status once he came of age.

Today, Texas Construction Co. is one of the top general building contractors called upon to work on some of Austin’s finest homes. It took plenty of seasoning over the course of nearly two decades to bring Flournoy to this point of his career.

His grandfather, Malcolm Henry Flournoy, owned Texas Lumber Co., a local lumber company. In addition to supplying lumber, he developed many parts of Austin after World War II until he retired in the 1970s.

Flournoy’s father, Don, was an attorney during the week, but he and Flournoy spent most weekends working on small repair and remodeling projects, where Flournoy developed a taste for the work. Don set Royce up with an apprenticeship with a local contractor where he learned basic carpentry skills.

Flournoy couldn’t wait until graduating from the University of Texas to fulfill his dream of owning his own construction firm, so he launched Texas Construction Co. to focus on light remodels and repairs that matched his skill set at the time.

“Within the first few years of founding the company, we became known as a well-run company which handled small renovation and repair projects,” Flournoy says. “As time moved forward, the firm became known as a very competent renovation firm.”

Nine years later, Flournoy’s godfather Mike Adkins – who had recently retired from a Fortune 500 company – helped Flournoy take the next steps to grow his firm. With Adkins’ guidance, Texas Construction began the process of improving its business practices through better reporting, recruiting top talent, and focusing the business on delivering the best end-result on every project.

“Within the last 10 years, the firm has created a strong footing in the high-end larger renovation and custom-home market of Austin,” Flournoy says. “We pride ourselves that high quality work and excellent customer service are the cornerstones of our firm.”

Speed and Sustainability

Over the course of 19 years, Flournoy says the greatest trend he has seen at the helm of Texas Construction is green building movement that started a few years ago.

“Within the span of my years in business, the greatest thing I have seen is a mutual desire from all to consider green building practices within their projects,” Flournoy says. “Today, it is rare to not have a discussion about energy efficiency, water conservation or material selection based on green-building principles.”

Sustainable practices is only one aspect of the homebuilding process where homebuyers are demanding more efficiency. Flournoy also says there is a pervasive demand for speedy deliveries within the homebuyer pool that is driving down the level of quality in construction.

“I have seen that lack of patience lead to quick solutions rather than the best solution driving a project’s directive,” Flournoy says. “Often, those quick decisions get you to the end result, but not the best result.”

A Historic Opportunity

Texas Construction currently is completing the renovation of the Rockmore residence, a historic home in the Tarrytown neighborhood of Austin. The existing building conditions require innovative solutions in ensuring that the integrity of the core structure is maintained, according to Flournoy.

“The clients have a vested interest in the project and have been very active in the decisions that are made as the project progresses,” Flournoy says. “The clients and our team have been focused on finding the best solution for each problem.”

Texas Construction emphasizes constant communication with all its clients, not all of them take advantage of the effort. This is not the case for this project, however, as Flournoy says the clients are very hands on for this renovation. It is a nice change of pace in his opinion.

“Although we provide constant communication and feedback with our clients and team members, it is not always strongly utilized by our clients,” Flournoy says. “These clients not only want to be informed, but they have created an environment where with any issue design- , budget- or timeline-related, all team members’ opinions and perspectives are heard prior to a final decision.

“Although this is not always the fastest approach to a resolution, I have found that it has resulted in better decisions and an extremely delighted client,” Flournoy adds. “By having this open dialogue with the client, they have been informed of budget decisions timeline every week.”